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European soccer: Cassano leads Inter to 2-0 win over Catania By Associated Press

ROME — Inter Milan rejoined Lazio in third place in Serie A on Sunday with a 2-0 win over Catania. Antonio Cassano opened the scoring in the 28th minute at the San Siro, heading in a pass from Esteban Cambiasso. Rodrigo Palacio secured the victory with a volley in the 85th.

Inter and Lazio trail leader Juventus by four points, with second-place Napoli one point ahead in second following a 2-0 loss at Juventus on Saturday. Also Saturday, Lazio beat struggling AC Milan 3-2.

Fiorentina is fifth, 10 points back, after a 1-1 draw at Chievo Verona.

Cyril Thereau gave Chievo the lead in the 17th and Gonzalo Rodriguez tied it for Fiorentina a minute later. Fiorentina striker Luca Toni hit the post at the end of the first half. The Tuscan club is yet to win away.

Parma beat 10-man Sampdoria with two goals from Amauri. Palermo and Torino drew 0-0, and 10-man Udinese edged promoted Pescara with a 53rd-minute goal from Maicosuel.

Atalanta celebrated its 105th anniversary with a 2-1 comeback win over last-place Siena, with goals from Luca Cigarini and Giacomo Bonaventura. Cagliari beat Bologna 1-0 to move out of the relegation zone.

LONDON (AP) — Everton lost ground on the Premier League's top three teams after being held to a 1-1 draw at last-place Queens Park Rangers, which is off to its worst start to a season in 21 years. QPR is without a win after eight games.

Everton, which finished a man down after Steven Pienaar was sent off, fell behind on a deflected strike by Junior Hoilett. But the team tied it when Sylvain Distin's header hit the post and rebounded in off the shoulder of QPR goalkeeper Julio Cesar.

Sunderland escaped with a 1-1 draw against Newcastle thanks to Demba Ba's 86th-minute own goal. That denied the visitors a victory after playing more than an hour with 10 men following Cheick Tiote's dismissal.

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Radamel Falcao scored on a free kick in the 90th minute to give unbeaten Atletico Madrid a 1-0 victory at Real Sociedad, extending its winning run to seven games to remain level with Barcelona at the top of the Spanish standings.

Falcao curled a perfect right-footed shot over the defensive wall to take his league scoring tally to nine goals, two behind leader Lionel Messi of Barcelona.

"Falcao pleaded to take the free kick," Atletico coach Diego Simeone said. "He has been practicing to improve his free kicks and today we saw the payoff. It was an exquisite strike."

Atletico has won 11 of 12 games in all competitions as Simeone continues to forge Spain's best chance of a side capable of mounting a challenge to Barcelona and Real Madrid's recent domestic dominance.

Also, Espanyol won its first game after eight rounds thanks to Christian Stuani's injury-time winner for a 3-2 victory at Rayo Vallecano, and Miguel "Michel" Alfonso struck from long range 3 minutes from time to give Levante a 1-0 victory at Getafe. Zaragoza won 2-1 at Granada to break a two-game losing streak, while Osasuna fell past Espanyol into last place after being held to a 0-0 draw at home by Real Betis.

BERLIN (AP) — Stuttgart won 1-0 win at Hamburger SV in the Bundesliga to end the home team's four-game unbeaten run.

Vedad Ibisevic beat goalkeeper Rene Adler in the 31st minute, allowing the visitors to win for just the second time this season.

Nuremberg ended its four-game losing streak with a 0-0 draw at home to Augsburg.

PARIS (AP) — Marseille fell 1-0 at struggling Troyes to concede first place in the French league to Paris Saint-Germain on goal difference.

Veteran midfielder Benjamin Nivet punished some sloppy defending in the 89th minute when he swept in a loose ball to give Troyes its first win of the season to lift it off the bottom of the table.

Marseille has picked up only one point from its last three games to put PSG back in the title race, having been six points ahead of its bitter rival a few weeks ago.

Marseille was dealt a further blow when top scorer Andre-Pierre Gignac landed heavily after challenging for a header in the first half and hurt his left foot. Despite treatment and strapping, he was unable to continue and Loic Remy replaced him up front. The club later said Gignac fractured his foot.

Earlier, Bafetimbi Gomis scored early in the second half as Lyon beat Brest 1-0 to reclaim third place.

Also, Ajaccio drew 0-0 with Bastia in an ill-tempered Corsican derby that saw both sides finish with 10 men and opposing fans fighting in the stands.

EDINBURGH, Scotland (AP) — Motherwell missed a chance to climb to third place in the Scottish Premier League by losing 1-0 to Hearts.

Danny Grainger scored from 30 yards in the 14th minute, giving Hearts its first victory at home since the opening day of the season. Motherwell came closest to scoring when Nicky Law's header was cleared off the line.

Motherwell is in sixth place, seven points behind league leader Celtic. Hearts moved up two places to eighth in the 12-team league.

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